Where do the Lucchese's rank among the most powerful mafia families? Without a doubt the Genovese are #1 followed by the Gambino's at #2 and given the state of disarray the Bonnano and Columbo's are in and the relative stability of the Lucchese under the ruling panel of Migliore, DiNapoli and Madonna would you agree the Lucchese's are the 3rd most powerful family in the USA?

Thank you for your time.

Yes, I agree they are number 3.

i think at time they might be able to pass the gambinos. not in size. but in other areas. the gambinos have been seem to hit pretty hard lately. really the only BIG news we've heard outta the Luchesse's lately has been Scarfo jr. they were barely indicted in the "biggest take down in mafia history"

Genovese and Gambinos have always been #1 and #2 respectively. The smaller three NY families have fluctuated more in their positions of #3-#5. Right now it's probably the Luccheses at #3 but not by a wide margin.

I think the Gambino's may be able to further solidify their number 2 position now. A new hierarchy and the Gotti's are all but gone! The family can settle down and be more unified.

Even on their worst day the Gambinos are still easily #2. It's a fairly big drop off from the two larger NY families to the three smaller NY families.

Totally agree with what's been said. Where would people rank the last two? Colombos then Bonnanos or vice versa?

i think the bonanno's are number 3, they controlled montreal that is among the biggest international drug pipelines
they still probably have a big deal there

the keyword in that statement is CONTROLLED. lots of stuff goin down in Montreal and it looks like they don't have much pull there. Perhaps in name only.

Obviously the Colombos seem to be in the worst shape. Over the years, the Luccheses and Bonannos rivaled for the number three spot. Now it seems to be the Luccheses, but only a decade ago the Bonannos were generally considered to be the third strongest.

The Lucchese's have always been an interesting case to me; a quiet family under Tony Ducks and Gribbs Tramunti and didn't suffer the rat problem that other families until the brutal Amusso/Casso reign (I've always thought the rats from the Lucchese's at the time were the most....'honorable' of rats, Pete Chiodo, Tommy Ricciardi etc.

Their ruling panel seems to work wonderfully for them, with the exception of the Louie Bagel's thing. The New Jersey crew at one time was the strongest of the NY familys' operating in Jersey --- until Casso. Weren't the Luccheses the ones who started the Windows Racket and brought in 3 other families?

Actually there were a few Genovese crews that were - and are - stronger. The Genovese have always been the strongest in Jersey. They've had like 4 o 5 there while the other families have had 1 or so. But the Lucchese crew was - and is - probably the strongest there after some of the Genovese crews.



The Genovese family was the one who first started the Windows racket (through Savino). The Luccheses were brought in because they controlled a key union local - Ironworkers Union Local 580. And once they saw the money involved, the Gambinos and Colombos also got involved.

An interesting side note from a 1996 article by New York Magazine -

"Gigante is said to be not only cogent but intimidating. He is by far the most feared mafioso on the streets today, law enforcement sources say. At the 1986 wake for a Genovese soldier, Gigante pulled "Little Vic" Amuso aside to discuss the Lucchese family's encroachment on the Genovese family's then-lucrative window-replacement business. According to sources, Gigante told Amuso he would be 'lucky to leave this wake alive.' Amuso, a stone killer in his own right, left trembling. "The Luccheses backed off after that,' a source said."

Seems like ducktales to me.Who is the "source"?

Thanks a million Ivy! I think the Lucchese's Jersey crew got the most press because of the Taccetta federal trial in '87 or so and then the near destrction by Vic and Gas.

Don't think the article said who the source was. But you can read the entire article by copy and pasting the link below into your browser. It's a good one.

http://books.google.com/books?id=6uQCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=genovese+family%2Bworst+dressed&source=bl&ots=ixW2tIiONU&sig=y5r6RckX17ERVP7VoTCEj6J5LTU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=masGT4WEFqj8iQLdn_3LCQ&ved=0

yeah i remember reading that and picturing that encounter in my head

Lucchese are #3, with the possibility of Crea being the most powerful boss in New York city in the next few years. Remember, the Bonanno's were small back in the 90's and by the late 90's, Messino was recognized as the most powerful boss in New York.

Of course, that was by default since Chin, Gotti, Amuso, and Persico were all in prison at that point.

Yes it was by default. He was the only official boss in New York City that was out on the street. He rebuild the family when he got out of prison in the early 90's, and when all the other bosses in the other families were in jail, he made alliances with the acting bosses and lower rank members of those other families, while keeping the Bonanno's from joining in rackets and deals with the other families. This tactic made it hard for the feds to get to him for a long time and allowed his position as boss to remain safe by appeasing the other families.

The bonnanos and Colombos are not close to the luccheses, those 2 LCN families have been wrecked and lost many important members over the last 8 or so years

Above the luccheses at 3 times the size is the gambinos and
Then at an even higher level is the Genovese

Only they have avoided major turncoats, carfaro and barone and arilotta
We're not important like Gravano(gambino underboss), Mikey Scars(Gambino Capo), al darco(acting lucchese boss), Joe Defede(acting lucchese boss)
Carmine sessa(colombo consigliere) massino vitals and the rest of the bonnanos

The lucchese's r in great shape at the moment , there the only family with there whole official administration out on the street , crea seems like a very savvy low key boss . They also have some very experienced guys being released in the next couple of years . George conte , George zappola and frank giola . It will be interesting to see how they fit in when there released as they were imprisoned in part for a plot to kill crea , the other conspirator was frank lastorino and he has been released and is still alive , they must have brokered a peace deal , the future looks good for the lucchese if. They can remain under the radar

And who in your opinion rounds out the administration?

I think it's Steve crea boss , Anthony bowat barrata /underboss and Joseph caridi consigliere

Has Anthony Bowat Barrata been confirmed as underboss or where did your hear that he was the underboss? last i heard they didnt have an underboss currently, or atleast nobody knew who it was...

I'm sure I saw an article stating he was underboss , it's either barrata or truscello . They seem to be close to crea

IF it's Bowat---and that's a very big IF---it's a political maneuver, plain and simple. Because Stevie isn't any "closer" to that guy today than he was twenty years ago (and twenty years ago they hated each other's fucking guts ).

Stevie's bread and butter is construction. Always has been, always will be. And he made a boatload of money with Dom Truscello in that business. But Dom is an old man with a lot on his plate. I doubt he even wants the spot.

If it's not any of those two who could it be ?? Wot about Eugene. Castelle ??

I believe the rising. Star in the family is Joseph lubrano , u ne,ver know he could get the underboss spot wen he is released

Agreed PB. Baratta was always closer to Amuso and Casso, although part of the Bronx faction. Also, something to keep in mind is that Baratta was demoted in mid 1990s together with Lastorino, by Amuso, to soldier.

Long time since we interacted posting. Hope everything is fine with you.

A guess as good as any, I´d say, would be Anthony Santorelli, who´s extremely close to Crea. It looks like he followed Crea up the ladder. Santorelli was in Crea´s crew and took over it when Crea was upped to acting boss. If there is an official No 2 guy at the moment, I wouldn´t be surprised if Santorelli is the guy holding that position.